Penn State recruiting target ‘loved the atmosphere’ at PSU; how to deploy Trace McSorley and Tommy Stevens, and more

Today’s Penn State football news roundup features an update in the recruitment of four-star defensive tackle Tyler Friday and an intriguing case study for how the Lions could deploy quarterbacks Trace McSorley and Tommy Stevens.

Friday, a 6-3, 260-pound prospect from Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey, is giving Penn State a long look, according to Tyler Donohue from Land of 10. Not only did Friday say he “loved the atmosphere” in Happy Valley, he indicated to Donohue that he likes the competitiveness of some of the Lions’ 2018 commits.

Friday is the No. 46 player in the country in the ’18 class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

Mike Poorman of StateCollege.com defers to Princeton in finding creative ways to get two quarterbacks involved in an offense. McSorley is a returning starter who is getting early Heisman Trophy buzz for the Lions, but Stevens has gotten praise at every turn from coach James Franklin.

One of the quarterbacks on Princeton’s roster, Chad Kanoff, verbally committed to Franklin at Vanderbilt before he took the Penn State job, Poorman writes. Kanoff completed 168 of 272 passes for 1,741 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions last season. Fellow passer John Lovett was used more creatively, throwing for 582 yards and 10 touchdowns to go with 411 rushing yards, 235 receiving yards and 21 combined rushing and receiving scores.

Poorman has more on that dynamic, plus a name to watch on the coaching front, should offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead move on.

In other Penn State football news, Saquon Barkley goes No. 2 overall in another 2018 NFL mock draft. Penn State is No. 5 in a composite of six preseason top-25 rankings, and keeping 2018 quarterback commit Justin Fields happy is Job One for the Lions.

PennLive’s Bob Flounders, Greg Pickel and Dustin Hockensmith also talk Penn State football on the Keystone Sports Network. Check out audio from their latest podcast below.

Those headlines and more highlight today’s Penn State football news roundup: